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BREEDERS' CUP WORLD THOROUGHBRED CHAMPIONSHIPSNovember 1, 2013Willie CarsonCharlie HillsRichard HughesChris WrightARCADIA, CALIFORNIA THE MODERATOR: The winner of the $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf was Chriselliam, and we have here with us Willie Carson, the co‑owner of this talented filly as well as jockey Richard Hughes. Now Willie Carson, of course, was a rider himself, so maybe we'll start by asking Willie what you thought of that ride? WILLIE CARSON: Bloody marvelous. What else can you say? John, in the middle of the pack, obviously, as you all know, the European horses are usually a little bit slow to get going in the first furlong and usually have to overcome that, and he did that marvelously and pushed her up to a very good position. And actually, my only thoughts then was we're getting a little too close to the inside rail. Will we get a clean run? That was my only worry. But when I saw enter into the straight, I knew the way he was going, it will make a hole. One wouldn't have to appear. We could have made one the way she was going. THE MODERATOR: Richard, you were in tight coming down the back side. How did the trip unfold? RICHARD HUGHES: Yeah, had a bit of a barrager match in the first turn, once I overcame that, I got a beautiful position down the back straight. Just before the bottom turn, I just needed to gain a half a length, and she was so electric, she just quickened into that gap. When you're traveling well in these races it's a lot easier to go where you want to go than if you're going as fast as you can. THE MODERATOR: We have trainer Charlie Hills. Charlie, your first full season as a trainer. Can you tell us what this win means to you? CHARLIE HILLS: Absolutely. It's just the icing on the cake this year. But really, something about being here and it was just the filly, I think. She's exceptional. She's got everything you want, really. She travels very well, and she's so professional, you can put her anywhere you want in the race, and she's also a very good turn of foot. It's not often you can win a Breeders' Cup by taking a pole halfway down the straight. Just looking forward to getting her home now, and then next year we'll obviously aim for the Guineas. But just to have a winner out here, it really does mean the world to me. THE MODERATOR: Her last win in Newmarket was super impressive. When did you think about coming to this race? CHARLIE HILLS: I hadn't thought about this race then. We were a bit of an outsider leading up to Newmarket. But after you win a Group 1 and you have a filly this time of year in such good form, it seems silly, really, to have her left in the box. So we thought, well, just to make the brave decision, and here we are. So, obviously glad we all made this decision. It's great for Chris and Willie, and obviously, William Asprey is obviously not here. Just to have a big winner for them who have supported Chriselliam for so long as a family means an awful lot to me. THE MODERATOR: Will you introduce Chris for us? CHARLIE HILLS: Chris Wright. THE MODERATOR: Chris, can you give us your impressions of this race, and how are you feeling right now? CHRIS WRIGHT: I'll come down to the real world in a few minutes. But apart from that, I thought everything went perfectly. I thought Hughesy gave her a little bit of a breather coming around the turn. He got her into a good position, and when I saw him like giving her a bit of a breather, I thought he must know he's in a great position. Then of course he asked her to come down the stretch, and it was all over in a matter of seconds. I think she's probably the most impressive winner of today I've seen so far. We always knew she was this good from our homework, and now she's proven it on the racetrack. It's very exciting to have a filly that's this brilliant. THE MODERATOR: Certainly is. And this is a question for whoever cares to tell the story, but can you give us a little bit of the background about who picked this filly out and how she came to Charlie? CHRIS WRIGHT: I could. I think a couple of years ago at Newmarket Yearling sales I was having a pretty nice lunch, and I think I drank a little bit too much wine, and I ended up buying a filly. And I persuaded Willie, who had been drinking a little bit with me that he should take half of it, and we took her home and we called after our two wives Janice and Elaine. She was very talented, but she won a race and we sold her to come to the States. She's been placed in a couple of stakes races here, that's Janice and Elaine. When Charlie bought this filly by himself. We didn't particularly go and buy the filly, but he bought her. When he bought her, we said to Charlie, if it's all right with you, we'll take her, and we took her. Right, Charlie? CHARLIE HILLS: Yeah, absolutely. CHRIS WRIGHT: That's how it happened. Very lucky as you can see. THE MODERATOR: Charlie, this is a race where the Euros have done really well. Did you feel you were overlooked coming into the race based off the win last time? CHARLIE HILLS: Not at all, you expect to be taking on the best in the world. So of course not. She can only show us what she can do on the track. That is the most important thing. Q. Richard, it took a long time. Were you surprised how easy it was when you finally broke your sort of who‑do here? RICHARD HUGHES: I came around last year on Sky Lantern and never got a run. Finished on the bit and absolutely got it going home. But you have to believe if you ride those races, you end up riding the best races overall. So you've got to believe to stick with your plan and go around the shortest route, and it worked today. It doesn't always work. But you have to stick to what you believe in. So it worked today and it was absolutely fabulous. Q. I want you all to know Mr. Willie Carson is a Derby winning jockey and commentator par excellence with BBC, and Richard Hughes is the English champion two years in a row, and this year he's won it going away. And at 40, he is the top rider in the UK and he's now making his presence here. Richard, this question is for you. Now that you've had a sensational year, capping it off with a win in the Breeders' Cup, are you going to Dubai, Japan? What are your plans in the next two months? RICHARD HUGHES: My plan here, I leave tomorrow night to go to Australia, ride Simenon and Melbourne Cup, after that back to Doncaster, followed by South Africa, Japan, Hong Kong, maybe India if you're nice to me. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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